Japan's maritime imperative
By: by Jonathan C. Goff
Publisher: Naval Postgraduate School; Available from National Technical Information Service
Published: 1999
Place of publication: Monterey, Calif; Springfield, Va
Language: eng
Number of pages: 106
Description: This thesis identifies factors that may induce Japan to create greater military capabilities and normalize military force as a potential source of national power in its security policies. A realist theoretical framework for analysis and assumptions is constructed. It consists of Great Power Theory, the Law of Comparative Advantage, and the Utility of Military Force, and dismisses the artificial divisions between levels of analysis. The thesis examines the failure of Japan's national security doctrine in the post-Cold War world. It explores the impact of economics, Japan's national goals, security threats, and the U.S.-Japan alliance on the country's construction and normalization of increased military capabilities. Japan's primary obstacles to military normalization, Article 9 of its constitution and domestic opinion, are assessed. The thesis concludes that Japan's national talents, production capabilities, and status as a maritime nation make it likely that it will construct more capable naval forces to respond to imperatives in the post-Cold War environment.
Notes: "June 1999"

Thesis advisor(s): Denny Roy.

Thesis (M.A. in National Security Affairs) Naval Postgraduate School, June 1999.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-104)

Approved for public release; distribution unlimited.

Also available online.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

System requirements: Adobe Acrobat reader.

US Marine Corps (USMC) author.

dk/dk cc:9116 9/9/99